Pre-E3 2008: FaceBreaker Hands-on

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Connecting face to fist one broken tooth at a time.

By Nate Ahearn

When gamers think of boxing, they think of Fight Night Round 3, the most recent EA Vancouver creation to put players inside the ring for fisticuff fun. Now the Canucks are trying their hand at a different type of brawler with FaceBreaker. While Electronic Arts and their new Freestyle brand, for which FaceBreaker is the flagship title, maintain that it is indeed a boxing game, when you first get your hands on the over-the-top arcade title you realize that it's actually something else entirely. Whether that means that the gaming community will latch on to its zany gameplay and caricatures for fighters, only time will tell.

There's no question that FaceBreaker has the look of a boxing title. You're in a ring, you have gloves on and your main goal is to bludgeon the hell out of the face staring back at you. But that's about the only parallel that you'll be able to draw between boxing and FaceBreaker. It's actually more of a boxing and fighting game hybrid. There are combo meters, you can throw the other character, you can toss them in the air and there's a dodge and counter system that fans of simplistic fighters will be able to latch on to.

When I first saw FaceBreaker a few months ago in Vancouver my expectations were pretty low. Having now gotten my hands on the fighter, I can say that its future once again holds promise. The fighting system is simple. You have two types of punches (high and low), you can block, parry and dodge, and you can throw your opponent, all while trying to build up your FaceBreaker meter. The gameplay is fast and frenzied but does hold a fine layer of strategy underneath its arcadey shell.

But since the name of the game is FaceBreaker, we'll start there. The FaceBreaker is essentially the "instant win" move for every fight. But it doesn't come easy. It's the fourth level on your combo meter and you can only reach it by landing a sequence of eight punches (alternating between high and low punches is required) without getting hit. As you build up your combo meter you'll also have the opportunity to launch the GroundBreaker, SkyBreaker and the BoneBreaker. My personal favorite is the SkyBreaker as it launches your opponent into the air, stunning him, and then prompts you to hit your last successfully landed punch to complete the move and bring added pain. The other moves are super punches, each extremely painful and unique to each character. The same goes for the FaceBreaker too as one character does pushups on his opponent's face while another gently pushes the fighter over.

Big vs. Bigger

There's an interesting internal struggle that happens as you watch your combo meter build. I was constantly thinking to myself, "Should I launch the BoneBreaker or wait in hopes that I can build up my meter to launch the ultimate FaceBreaker?" But launching the BoneBreaker does take time and if your opponent lands a simple jab then your move is over and your meter resets.